Flame — HabitableZone

Flame » in reply to Well said. For some, dogs, cats and people are merely objects.

bonding outside the species
Robert — (archived)

I think that we "induct animals into our community" by teaching them, to some degree, to think and feel like we do. And that doesn't demean them, because that's how we create human minds, too; we raise up animals the way we raise humans, through constant interaction and demonstration of human sociability. I'm quite serious when I say that we make our animal companions part of the human community.

The deep bonds you form with dogs, I've been known to form with cats--the two aren't so different, especially after induction. Years ago a stray wandered in, an old battered tom, acting his age and obviously seeking to come in out of the cold. I took him to the vet within a week for a checkup, and learned that he had feline AIDS, and had to be put down then and there. I shed a tear for the little guy, and the vet, knowing the cat was newly-arrived, commented that he'd never seen anybody bond that quickly to a cat. (Just between you and me, it was more complicated than that...I was also touched by the poignancy of the narrative, the elderly tomcat, independent all his life, taking shelter with a friendly human for the last few days of his ninth life, thinking of how contentedly he'd snored on the bed, how I'd been able to make his last few days comfortable, how, at the end, he hadn't died alone after all...all in all, as I think you'll understand, it was a good experience.)

So I think I do understand, Bowser. I hug trees, too ;-)

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